I got the car back from the shop... bad news

[vuyodaddy]

SO, the good news is from afar, it looks like the paint is shiny as hell, they detailed my interior (which was needed for a while now), and I'm just happy to have it back. Now... for the problems

*they gave me an old school kidney grill on my '95 e34. Not acceptable. At all.
*the hood doesn't open properly. You need to pop the switch, then lift up the front portion manually, and THEN you can slide it up.
*they replaced my right headlight with a slightly cracked one. I see that being a problem in the future, condensation, water accumulation, yellowing, etc.
*air bubbles formed and popped on the paint, leaving little half millimeter indents in the hood. A whole shitload of em.

Not happy. At all. All I ask is someone give me some advice on how I should proceed at this point. Thanks all!

[SnakeyesTx]

Wait... you mean the hood is supposed to pop out automatically and you're only supposed to have to pull it open from the back the whole time?!! o_O I thought having to pull it up from the front first was mandatory ... shows what I know

As for that horrible repair/refinish... I'd go straight back to the shop you took it to with a formal complaint to their supervisors and if you have to get nasty about it, threaten to report it to the BBB (or a firm similar if you're not in the US), and if that isn't good enough, take it to court! Don't get taken for a ride by crappy work.. ever. Document everything with pictures before they get to touch it a second time.

[BillionPa]

1: they probably didnt know better, a lot of people here are gonna say leave it.
2: needs new hood shocks, easy fix
3: get some HID projectors
4: TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! have them repaint the hood at once. did they use maaco or some crap to paint it?

5:... pics?

[Russell]

wrong parts, broken used parts, poor paint-sure seems like a case for shoddy work.

Need a bit more details such as who paid-you or the insurance company? Sometimes the insurance compay allows used parts. However, they should be the correct working parts. We do not know the extent of your damages. Hood shocks wear out for example. One of the first thing replaced when I bought my car as hood would not stay up after opened.

It sounds like the shop replaced your old damaged hood shocks with used ones. It also sounds like this shop is not familiar with BMWs.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

2: needs new hood shocks, easy fix

The hood pop is controlled by torsion springs on the pivot tube at the front of the hood, not the gas cylinders. Likely the tube is bent and binding - esp if it was hit.

[632 Regal]

nothing like a in line water filter for paint work. sounds hack, whats the shop so we know who to avoid?

[VentoGT]

Indeed--unacceptable work. You shouldn't have even taken the car with you honestly. If the paint is bubbling on the hood, it is probably going to start bubbling elsewhere--poor prep job. I just got my car repainted at eye-watering cost but they did a fantastic job of it...no dust, very clean, glass out, lifetime warranty if anything does go wrong with it.

[Russell]

Not so sure. my hood would not pop. Put new hood struts on and it popped open. Now my "newer" hood stuts have gotten weaker it does not pop so easily. Or so it seems.

[Yiorgos]

With your narrow grille on your E34, did they at least match the hood to the grille? AFAIK, with the wide grille E34s they had to use a different hood too to suit the grille.

[califblue]

simple but effective...fire bomb the shop and shoot them as the run out

oops did I just say that
have them strip and repaint the hood ( also realign it), replace the headlight and grill and you have the final say